Down
by Hugs6
Summary: What goes up must go down. Things weren't meant to stay that way forever. (A sequel to Up)
1. The grape soda cap and the funeral

**What goes up must go down.**

**-Don't own Pixar. I'd mess it up.**

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><p>Russel's POV:<p>

Dug sat beside me at Carl's funeral. He'd been like a dad to me. We'd spent the best years of my life together, ever since our adventure seven years ago. I'd been eight, it had been the biggest thing to happen to me ever. I can't say I was handling Carl's death well, I was a wreck. I'd almost destroyed everything, yelled at my real dad until he left me alone, I almost kicked Dug. I was depressed and frustrated honestly. I couldn't handle it couldn't take it anymore. When I woke up this morning a suit was lain out, ironed nicely, along with a tie, my dad's way of making our fight up to me. I'd put the suit on and the tie and gingerly fastened the grape soda cap to my suit. I wear it everyday, and now that my idol and inspiration and best friend honestly is dead I will continue wearing it in his honor. Dug rests his head on my lap and we both sigh. Neither of us know what to do now. We're lonely and sad and directionless. Carl made every day of my life an adventure, but now that he's gone my life is dull and colorless and just depressing. I wish there was something I could do to get out of this slump but there isn't.

My dad sends a car for me. I set in the back stroking Dug's head as we sit in silence. Dug whimpers a little and I just stare out the window, tears leaking from my face. I finger the grape soda cap and sigh again. When I get home my dad glances up for a brief moment and asks if I'll be okay. I don't answer, I just go out to the garage.

Adventure was always Carl's passion, even after he lost Ellie. While I've never met anyone as great as he always made Ellie out to be, I do have a passion of my own, and I wouldn't have found it if it weren't for him. Inventing is something I can be passionate about, the only thing I have left other than Dug. I discovered my interest in it after seeing Dug's collar. I wanted to learn how it worked so I took it apart and became fascinated. I was able to put it back together and even improve it, but I also like working on other projects, not all of them are completely related to dogs, but a lot of them are because I have dog insight at my finger tips. Dug's getting pretty old but he still has the same energy that he refuses to give up. I'm glad that Dug refuses to give into old age. Carl had no choice to. He was really sick and dying. It couldn't be stopped. I spent every day with him as he died. I told him the stories of the adventures we had together and we looked at the Adventure book. It seemed to make him happy. At least he died happy.

That's the thing. People can die happy, but the people left alive, like me, we're not happy. I don't think I can be happy.

A few hours later my step mom comes to get me for dinner. I come but I don't eat. No one says anything to me and that's perfectly fine with me. Dug curls up my feet and I feed him some of my dinner, but he's apathetic too. Neither of us really care about things. I found a little pleasure in my tinkering on my projects, but it wasn't enough. I miss Carl. Carl was always there for me when my dad wasn't. Ellie would've been like a mom to me I know, had she been alive. My step mom isn't a good mom, but Dad never picks good women. My own mom might have been a good one, but she died when I was little so I really don't know. Ever since then its been step mom after step mom or between step moms its girlfriends, and I hope that my real mom was the one for my dad, or he'll probably never know real love. I have two half siblings, but their mom's got custody so I only see them at Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving... Oh thats coming up isn't it? One less thing to be thankful for. I can't take things for granted, that would be selfish of me. I guess I have a pretty good life. I just don't know what I'm going to do without Carl.

I don't know what I'm going to do at all.

The rest of the day drags on. I ruined the suit while I was tinkering but my dad says nothing about it. He doesn't care. He can by another one at the snap of his finger. That's what I am to him, something that can be dealt with with money and a finger snap. To him I'm not his son but a thing that needs to be taken care of for no real reason. I don't care though. I never used to care. I had no reason to care. I had a family. I still have Dug.

When I go to bed I don't know how I'll be able to sleep, I still see the image of Carl in a casket when I close my eyes. Still feel the weight of the words, "He's dead." I remember when it happened, it was awful. The nurses and doctors rushed in and pushed me out nad I watched from the window as he died and they could do nothing about it. I was panicking inside, my chest tightened up and I didn't know what to do so I just cried. I hate that memory.

I force myself to close my eyes and try to sleep, and reluctantly I drift off. And when I'm asleep the dreams come.

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><p><strong>DON'T KILL ME I HAVE A PLAN.<strong>


	2. Carl's descent, the first night

_In his dreams he saw Carl. Not surprising. He'd been thinking about him when he fell asleep, but now things were different. This wasn't the Carl he'd known as an eight year old boy, or later through nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen and for as much of fifteen as possible. No. This Carl was different, younger, looking more alive than he had when he had been alive. It broke Russel's heart to see him like this. This was Carl after death, and he really had died happy. Russel could tell by the look on Carl's face he was imagining being reunited with his dearest love Ellie. Russel wanted to wake up from this dream, but he couldn't, so he continued to stare at his dead friend. Carl was walking, going down a steep path that would have ruined him and his walker had he been in the form Russel knew so well, but he wasn't. This was definitely the Carl Russel had only seen in photographs. Carl was smiling and humming to himself as if he didn't see the steep path ahead of him or the darkness or the creatures that lurked about waiting to pounce. Carl seemed oblivious to all of it, as if he knew that the light at the end of the tunnel would be eternally worth it. He kept going, cheerfully humming a happy tune that he'd hummed a lot before he'd gotten sick. Russel stared in horror as a ugly beast with hideous, long, sharp claws reached for him. Carl began to glow a little, illuminating the dark path for a moment, and the beast couldn't get to him. Carl calmly turned his head and looked at the beast, pausing in his song and opening his mouth to speak._

_"No." He told the beast with a smile._

_"No, you can't get to me. Not today. I'm going to see Ellie, and nothing will stop me." The beast cowered, suddenly afraid of Carl. Russel was impressed, but also a little frightened. He didn't understand what was going on, just that the dream made him uneasy. _

_Carl kept walking, his happy hum turning into a whistle and then a song, the words were made up as he went. The more he walked the more a glow radiated off of him, and the more the creatures crept closer, cautiously awaiting a chance to pounce. Russel wanted to call out, warn Carl that beasts lurked ready to devour him. But he found no voice, so he continued to watch, terrified. Carl didn't seem to mind the creatures crowding around. He glanced at them and laughed, loudly._

_"You can't hurt me. I'm going to see my Ellie, and nothing will hurt me." He told them, grinning bigger than Russel thought he'd ever seen him grin. Russel couldn't shake the uneasy feeling, but Carl seemed to be doing just fine. Russel attempted to swallow his growing panic, but it just made him feel sick inside. _

_Carl continued his journey. For a bit he stopped glowing and things were pitch black. Russel heard Carl stumble and then laugh and pick himself up. By now Russel was petrified, worried for his friend. He wanted it to be light, to be day to be nice and sunshiney so he could sweep away his worries and be reassured that Carl was fine. When Carl started glowing again he was being cornered by the hideous demon creatures, but Carl just laughed once more._

_"I told you but you don't listen. I'm going to see my Ellie. Now please get out of my way." Needless to say the demons did not get out of his way. So Carl just walked through them, glowing brightly. Russel would have bitten his nails had he been awake._

_For a bit the dream got a bit fuzzy, Carl appeared to be walking through cobwebs and Russel was both confused and pretty scared. The cobwebs were huge, and with cobwebs came spiders, something Russel was secretly terrified of. Sure enough ginormous spiders arrived, but Carl just waved and kept walking, and the spiders seemed to pay him no mind._

_Carl came to a stop, even spirits apparently got tired, he sat on a rock and took a deep, content breath. The creatures gathered near to him and he smiled at them and began telling them the story of how he'd met Ellie._

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><p>I awoke with a start from the strange dream. I'd fallen out of bed a few hours ago but the dream had been too intense I hadn't even woken up. It was too early to get up so I just sat on my floor and cried.<p>

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><p><strong>Please review it would mean a lot! What do you guys think about the dream?<strong>


	3. The first friend since

**So my brother thinks this fanfiction is lame just because of the name. Well, we only have one follower and one favorite and no reviews, but still. Thank you to the one person who actually liked the story idea, and I can't even shout out to you because I practically shoved the idea down your throat yesterday in first hour. If you like this story please I beg you to review. :D Not desperate at all. Anyway, **

**HAPPY THANKSGIVING**

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><p>When I tied my shoe laces the day after the funeral I was very thoughtful. School today would mean facing people who have never been my friends, people I really don't want to see.I'm ashamed to admit I was thinking about skipping but my father would have a cow if he found out I did, so I begrudgingly climbed in the car, toting my twenty pound (no seriously I weighed it) backpack. Dug couldn't come with me to school. He'd stay around the house avoiding my step mom and waiting for the car to take me home from the prison most people call high school. I was very tired, I hadn't gotten much sleep after waking up earlier, and the dreams I had were... Incredibly disturbing. While I liked the idea of Carl getting to see Ellie again the creatures worried me and the spiders terrified me. Besides, it was frustrating how emotional I'd let myself become over a silly ream. I was just a few steps away from being an actual scientist, and while thanks to Kevin and Dug I believed more in the impossible than I ever had, I was still wary of controversial topics like the afterlife. I didn't know what to believe, and I certainly wasn't going to take my dream seriously until I had a few more facts. Still, the dream stuck in my mind.<p>

When I reached the private school where I was forced to attend, a nice school that had a strict dress code that prohibited jeans and t-shirts unfortunately, I begrudgingly got out and followed the stream of high school students into the building. I wouldn't miss this when I graduated, though I had a feeling that college would be just as miserable, and just as unwilling to let me have Dug around. For most of the day things went by smoothly, I barely stayed awake during English, drew up plans for a small robot in citizenship, stumbled through Spanish, and then trudged to lunch.

Even on chilly days like today I sat outside. I liked sitting outside in the courtyard on a wooden bench. It reminded me somewhat of a park bench Carl and I used to go to, even though the courtyard was almost completely concrete except for the tiny sliver of grass that barely supported two trees struggling to grow. I'd named the trees Kevin and Dug after my two favorite animal friends, but since Carl's death I'd been considering changing the names to Carl and Ellie. I nodded at the decision and watched the wind blow off even more leaves. I knew winter would come and bring a chilling amount of snow, making it hard to enjoy my meal outside, but I'd still attempt it. I had no friends to sit with indoors, even if I did have friends at this school, which I didn't, knowing my like they probably wouldn't have my lunch. After that depressing revelation I decided to actually eat my sandwich, turkey and cheddar, bread slightly toasted, one of the servants that like me must have made it. I was half way through the sandwich when someone approached me on purpose for the first time in my high school existence. Even freakier, it was a girl.

"Hi!" She said brightly, beaming at me. I wasn't exactly in the mood for happy and bubbly, but I forced a polite smile and responded to her in my best happy voice.

"Hello." I couldn't force the same enthusiasm into my voice, but she seemed undeterred.

"I'm Kylie, you're in my science class." I struggled to recall her, then nodded.

"Robotics, right?" Robotics was my second elective after Spanish, and when she said she was in my science class at first I thought she meant my required science class, but no, this was a girl who actually cared about robotics, and not some girly elective like drama or chorus.

"Yeah, its really interesting isn't it?" She was so bubbly. How could she possibly have so much to be happy about? I frowned a little.

"Yeah it is." She must have noticed my frown because she frowned too."

"Are you okay Russel?" I was alarmed for a second that she knew my name, but once again recalled that she was in my class. Actually, she sat in the desk behind me. It was reasonable she'd know my name.

"Well..." I made the decision right then not to lie to my new found friend(?).

"No actually. I'm kind of upset. A close friend died just a few days ago."

"Oh!" Her mouth opened in the exact shape she'd just proclaimed, and her eyes grew wide like an owl's.

"Thats awful, that must be awful. Are you okay?" She sat down beside me looking concerned.

"Not really, he was like a father to me."

"Is your own father...?" She trailed off, leaving me to fill in.

"I live with him, but we have a hollow relationship. Until a seven years ago, when I met Carl, I didn't know what having a dad was supposed to feel like, I just saw it in other's lives."

"How old was Carl?" She asked gently, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Eighty five. I mean, I know people die I just... I just took it hard."

"If he was a father to you that's expected. But you don't have to go through this alone. You have friends."

"Are you my friend?"

"Yeah."

"Then I have one friend. And a dog."

"Then that's two friends." She said, trying to sound optimistic. She has no idea how much of a friend dug is, if she knew that he could talk she might be scared off, so I don't mention it yet.

"Great. I have two friends." I say sarcastically.

"You'll get through this. I'll help you." She promises. And I believe her.

And at the same time I don't. I don't know what to think. But at least I have another friend. I'll take what I can get. I just hope the dreams don't come back. Though she'd probably help me with those too.

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><p><strong>Again, Happy Thanksgiving!<strong>


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